Scars
by Alex Ryzlin Gold
Summary: Emma wasn't the least bit surprised at how good Regina was at sex. Emma wasn't surprised when Regina's magic made an unexpected visit the first time they were together. What did surprise Emma were the scars. Somehow her view of what made a Queen didn't include scars. Vague/implicit mentions of past marital rape and child abuse. Mentions of past relationships (Leopold and Graham).


**Disclaimer:** I don't own OUAT

**Warnings:** Vague/implicit mentions of past marital rape and child abuse. Mentions of past relationships (Leopold and Graham) and sexual partners.

Emma wasn't the least bit surprised at how good Regina was at sex. Whenever Emma found dark eyes watching her she could practically feel the sexual energy coming off of Regina in waves and after one too many slow appraisals of Ruby's clothes for the day, Emma wasn't even surprised to find out that Regina had bedded the fairer sex before. If Regina was to be believed, she had bedded women just as frequently as she had men; which certainly explained how Regina knew to do that _thing_ with her tongue that consistently drove Emma wild.

Emma wasn't surprised when Regina's magic made an unexpected visit the first time they were together. As Regina lay beneath her coming undone, purple sparks flared to life and pulled Emma over the edge with Regina. Truthfully it might have surprised Emma a little, but with Gold constantly prattling on about 'magic being emotion' Emma's mind had already wondered to the possibility of sex magic. Sex magic, or magic for the use of sex, Emma soon found out, came in many forms. Like Regina using her magic to hold Emma down while a dozen magical tongues found some very interesting places on her body to explore.

What did surprise Emma were the scars. Somehow her view of what made a Queen didn't include scars. She didn't notice them on the first night, she'd be a little too busy and Regina insisted that the lights stayed off. But in the bright morning light there was nothing hiding the lines that played along Regina's back and stretched around stomach until Emma couldn't see them anymore. They weren't the deep scars that left thick upraised skin that Emma was used to. They were … delicate. Thin, slightly paler lines that you wouldn't notice unless you looked for long enough. You wouldn't notice them by touch unless you knew they were there. They told a story that Emma wasn't sure she wanted to hear, because it was one she had heard before played out on her own body. But that didn't mean that Emma wasn't going to ask.

/-/-/-/

Most of Emma's scars weren't thin and delicate. They were bulky and ragged from being infected and picked at. Some of them might have been like Regina's if they had been treated properly, but they hadn't been because medical care was something only good children got. Emma had hardly ever been good. The infections were never serious, just painful enough that Emma had quickly figured out to clean them with water and toilet paper as soon as possible and if that failed, as frequently as possible.

Most of her scars were reminders of bad times, but not all of them. One on her left knee was from falling off of her bike when Emma was seven. She had been told off for scratching the bike but that family never hit her and they had actually bought the bike for her and allowed her to take it to the next home she went to, not that it stayed long after that. Emma still had the stretch marks from her pregnancy too. She had found a new appreciation for them after Regina discovered them and started to worship them with her tongue. Emma understood the sentiment, because Henry was the root of all good in both of their lives. Aside from those though, Emma had no scars that reminded her about good times because in general a hug or a good word didn't stick leave a mark the same way that a fist or a belt did. Scars told stories that you wanted to forget, but you couldn't because they were right _there_.

/-/-/-/

Sometimes Emma wondered if Graham ever noticed, ever questioned the amount of pain written on Regina's body. The scars didn't suit the lie of Mayor. Some of them didn't even suit the world they lived in. If he had, Regina probably hadn't told him anything, especially not the truth. She told the truth when Emma asked though.

/-/-/-/

There had been a few that Emma had known were some kind of weapon wound. One sat near Regina's left shoulder blade and another high on her right thigh. They had looked a lot like bullet wounds, but were too long and very messy. Emma wasn't surprised to find out they were arrow wounds, the one in Regina's shoulder had even come from Snow's bow during battle. A battle that Regina had taken great joy in explaining that she won despite having an arrow sticking out of her back (which gave Emma a view of the sort of Queen she had been, and it wasn't exactly a bad one).

There were a few straight lines on the inside of Regina's left arm near the elbow that Emma knew to be self-inflicted which Regina had confirmed. She explained then as being a necessity in completing a potion or ritual at different points in her life. They had obviously been made very carefully, exact in measurement and completely uniform to the point that Emma asked if Regina had measured the length of the incisions and the distance between each one. Regina scoffed and told her that being precise wasn't that rare a trait and to stop being amazed by it just because she couldn't keep a tiny desk clutter free. Emma hadn't noticed them before but now she saw then anytime Regina wore a shorter sleeved dress or shirt (or was naked, which was a nice view). She was pretty sure that Regina had been covering them up with foundation before the curse broke.

There were other scars that Regina didn't say anything more than 'Mother was disappointed in me' about. They were always the most delicate scars, light, barely noticeable and in all the easily hidden places. After meeting Cora and living through Regina's grief at Cora's death Emma understood that each scar was a reminder to Regina that as much as her mother had abused her, her mother had also loved her in her weird heartless way and wanted a good life for her daughter. It disturbed Emma though how many of those types of scars there were because not all wounds scarred and for every scar there would be many more moments between mother and daughter that Regina had lived through. It was like having an incomplete tally chart draw on Regina's skin.

One scar at Regina's hair line on the back of her neck had led to a story about Snow saving her while she had been disguised as a peasant. Regina's own guards trying to kill her and then knocking her off the raised platform and causing the scar had Emma on the edge of her seat and it wasn't the first time Emma felt floored by the fact that her family were _fairy tales_ and had _adventures_ on a semi-regular basis, or at least they used to. Sometimes she forgot, despite her own adventures with Snow, Mulan and Aurora because they were all in Storybrooke right now and really their lives seemed pretty mundane.

Emma had been surprised that none of the scars Regina had seemed to have come from Rumpelstiltskin, seeing as he had most definitely been a part of Regina's formative Evil Queen years, and Emma certainly blamed him for a few of Regina's actions after hearing the stories. But no, Regina insisted that he had never raised a hand to her, much like her own father. Both of them had left scars on Regina's heart instead. Regina offered to show her but Emma didn't think she could handle seeing her lover's heart because seeing physical confirmation of how broken Regina had been would make it awfully hard for Emma to get to sleep at night. It was hard not to break down and just steal Regina away from the world and people that had hurt her.

Emma did have trouble sleeping when Regina refused to talk about a set of four half-moon scars on her right hip. They looked suspiciously like finger nails and the fact that finger nails had marked Regina meant that she probably hadn't been clothed during the incidence. Emma wasn't an idiot, and she and Regina had shared their life stories. The only other time Regina had refused to speak had been about her time as Snow's stepmother and wife to the King. She mentioned him in passing but it was rare of her to do so. Emma put the clues together. Her grandfather had caused those scars and that terrified Emma more than she wanted to admit. She hadn't slept at all that night and had made sure to stay away from Snow for the next few days. After that she requested that Snow not mention Leopold around Regina.

/-/-/-/

The last scar Emma asked about was the one on Regina's lip. Regina let her fingers play across her lip and over the indent the scar made.

"Do you think it's ugly?"

"No!" Emma said quickly. "No, it's hot and …"

"I use to hate it. It meant so much more than the fact that my face, my beauty had been marred. Snow thought it made me look grown up. Leopold hated it with a vengeance and always made me wear heavy makeup so that no one would notice it. After a while I just started to glamour it away to save time."

Regina glanced at Emma and smiled slightly. It wasn't a happy smile, it was one of those smiles people had when they told you that someone had died, but they had died in some funny or 'appropriate' way. Like the fact that they had died right after they had finished a painting or novel made it any better.

"It was a bit ironic actually, considering how much effort Mother put into not marking my face during her 'lessons' with me. When I pushed her through the mirror that sent her to Wonderland the glass shattered and cut me."

Regina traced the scar with her finger again.

"But it was a magical mirror and as soon as the glass cut me it healed. No blood, just a scar."


End file.
